Melonie had this in the bag.
She tossed her frizzy green and pink mane, and she could feel it in her cutie mark. Melonie's special talent was for taking out other earth ponies. The exploding melon on her rump was proof enough of that. She took earth pony magic up to a whole new level.
The target, the Guardian of Honesty, well she had been working all morning. More than that, Melonie had felt that the Guardian had been channelling a great deal of growing magic into her fields. This was going to be a cakewalk. Rarely had her targets decided to exhaust themselves.
Where unicorn ponies focused all of their magic in their horns, and pegasus ponies had most of theirs in their wings, hooves and eyes, earth ponies were different. Their magic was more diffuse, spread throughout their whole bodies, enhancing their physical traits. The earth ponies who grew things, the ones really in touch with their ancestral roots, so to speak, they could push the magic out of them and into the ground to make it fertile. They could push magic into plants to make them grow faster, bigger, more delicious.
Even those who didn't grow specifically pressed a little bit of magic out with each step; this was known as the trace. It was an earth pony thing, once used to identify territory back when things were a little more medieval, and now mostly used to track where a pony had been. The fresher the trace, the closer to the surface it was. The older, and the further the magic would sink into the ground until it mingled in with everypony else's.
The really skilled earth ponies like Melonie, now they had one more trick. They could draw magic back out of the ground, and use it to strengthen themselves further. Every pony had a different magical flavour, a part of their essence, and so pulling up the energy that you yourself had left behind was more efficient than taking anypony else's. Family bonds helped, too, magic was strange and almost self-aware like that. If one's family had owned land for a long time, each generation walking upon the earth would add to the pool. It was why more earth ponies living on a piece of land also improved productivity - there was just more magic going in. And there was more to draw on.
True, a lot of earth ponies used this ability subconsciously when under significant enough stress. Being attacked, for instance, tended to cause a draw. Melonie had experience, however, so she knew that attacking this Guardian - an Apple, no less - on her own farm would not be the best idea. No, Melonie was waiting until the farmer started heading into town to make her move. Dirty Work had chosen today of all days because according to his observations, it was the best chance everypony - and griffon - would have to take out their assigned hits.
Melonie giggled and popped a piece of bubblegum in her mouth. She'd draw up a bit of the generic pathway magic and deliver a devastating kick before the Guardian of Honesty even knew what was happening. Melonie could see it all unfolding in her mind now.
She would stroll up, crossing paths with the Guardian. As they walked past each other, Melonie would end up in her blindspot, and it was then she would strike. She would draw up as much power into her hind legs and let loose one of her patented melon-destroying kicks. Melon in this case, being a crude term for head. She snickered a little more, and trotted away from the spot where she had been discretely watching the farm over the fence. She had to get into position.
Applejack squinted. "I think that pony's moved away from the fence now, Granny."
Granny Smith harrumphed from her rocking-chair just outside the house. "Gosh dern newcomers lurkin' around 'n' starin' all the time. Like that green fella last week! Whatta they after, huh? Cider? It ain't cider season yet, it ain't even Applebuck season, 'less you young'ns've put too much in them trees agin."
"That was one time, Granny, once," Applejack grumbled. "Ya overcharge a coupla trees on yer first ever Applebuckin' and ya never hear the end of it."
"Heeh," Granny Smith laughed. "Yer pappy did the same when he was startin' out. So, ya finished yer fields today already or no?"
Applejack frowned. "Yeah, I've finished, Granny. Now I've jus' gotta load up the last of the summer crop fer the market an' we've got a coupla slow days before Applebuck starts. I don't wanna leave you alone out here in case that pony comes back, though."
"Alone? Ha," Granny Smith rolled her eyes. "Yer brother's jus' over in the south paddock, and Apple Bloom's showin' old Grand Pear that clubhouse of hers. If'n that pony comes back, I'll show 'em how hard an old mare can holler fer her kin, an' how hard she can kick! Git on down to sellin' those last summer apples, ya hear?"
"Yes, Granny," Applejack said, setting off towards the barn where the produce cart was ready to be loaded.
Melonie hid her grin with a large bubble of gum. This was even more perfect! The Guardian was hitched to a cart, so she would be hindered in her movements. They were just in sight of the first true buildings of the town, and Melonie felt that they would be far enough away from the Guardian's territory that she wouldn't be able to draw from it. Sure, there was likely some Apple magic on the pathway, but it wouldn't be so intense. Melonie was used to these encounters, so she knew what to expect.
The Guardian of Honesty approached. Melonie walked, chewing her gum. The Guardian of Honesty stopped. Melonie saw her nostrils dilate, and both orange ears turned her way. Huh.
"G'mornin', stranger," the Guardian said, unsmiling. "Y'know there ain't nothin' much but farmland down this way, you lost?"
Melonie's tail swished. Alright, so the Guardian was chatty. She could deal with that. "Oh, no, I'm visiting a distant cousin. Thank you."
"Yeah?" asked the orange pony, her green eyes narrowing just a bit. "I know most of the folks 'round here. Who's yer cousin?"
Melonie hesitated. There was chattiness - some ponies were just friendly and wanted to know everything - and then there was interrogation. There were no smiles on the Guardian's face, and the orange ears had swivelled backwards. Had Melonie been rumbled? That didn't happen very often. Then again, she was dealing with Honesty here. Did the mare have some sort of lie-detection powers? Melonie weighed her options - try to bluff her way through this, or act with the element of surprise on her side.
It wasn't a hard choice.
The Guardian's eyes widened as she felt Melonie draw. She had barely had time to raise one foreleg to shield her face when the mare with the frizzy mane wheeled about, lashing out with a vicious double kick that shattered the Guardian's leg and caved in the side of her face.
Or at least, it should have done. Instead, Melonie staggered, her hooves feeling like they'd just tried to knock a mountain over. There were marks in the path that showed where the Guardian had been pushed backwards, but she lowered her definitely-not-broken leg and stared at the green pony. What? Melonie shook herself and glared at the Guardian.
"What the muck," she spat, prancing up and down and trying to get some feeling back in her hind hooves. "That should've taken your head off."
"Beggin' yer pardon, stranger," said the Guardian, her eyes now set in an appraising squint. "But did ya jus' say you were tryin' ta kill me?"
Melonie bared her teeth and took another draw from the ground. It must have been a fluke or something. A second go was sure to work.
The Guardian shook her head. She was still attached to the cart. "You don't wanna do that."
Melonie snorted and rushed the Guardian, swinging around for another pair of kicks, but she was met again by an apparent solid wall. What was this pony made of? Melonie backed up, giving the Guardian - lowering her other foreleg - a little more space.
"This isn't possible," Melonie growled. "I watched you dumping magic all morning. You shouldn't have any left!"
"That was you," The Guardian scowled. "An' Granny thought you were jus' after some cider. Whatta ya tryin' ta do, make a name fer yerself? It ain't gonna be pretty for ya."
The Guardian had noticed her? Ugh, so maybe the Guardian knew how to draw, and she had boosted herself up on her own land after Melonie had left. That was unfortunate... but out here maybe all she needed to do was get the Guardian to tire herself out again. After a morning of hard work, most of the mare's newly absorbed magic would eventually be going towards mending the physical strain. Melonie, on the other hand was fresh and ready to fight. She just needed some more time...
"No, I don't want anypony to know my name," Melonie said, circling the other pony until she was out of sight, behind the cart. She heard the sounds of the disconnecting harness and continued. "But I have your name and a promise of bits."
"Ah," said the Guardian. "Ya have my name, huh?"
"I have the one that counts, Guardian of Honesty," Melonie sneered as the Guardian came back into her view. The orange mare had set the harness down to the side, but otherwise hadn't moved from her spot in the middle of the road. "It's just business, you know."
The Guardian sighed. "Business an' amoral dealin's, huh? That sounds familiar. Let me guess, ya waited up here fer me ta leave my farm, so I'd not be on my territory no more?"
"Yeah," Melonie said. "Yeah, I did, and now you're here, away from your land. You were up on that farm of yours since the crack of dawn, breaking your back. You must be tired now, after all your hours of toiling. Why not let what magic you've drawn heal your aches and pains and just let the inevitable happen? I promise I'll make this as painless as possible for you."
"Yer kiddin', right?" The Guardian's expression was one of bafflement. "Yer... not kiddin'. Sweet Celestia."
To Melonie's horror, the Guardian began to laugh.
"Y- ya think I'm tired? After a mornin'?" The orange mare wiped a tear from her eye. "I tell ya what, stranger, that ain't half funny. Tired is nearly two weeks non-stop kickin' trees, and I ain't never tryin' that again. A mornin', ha! Ah, sorry, I'm probably ruinin' the mood with you tryin' ta assassinate me an' all."
Two... weeks? Melonie couldn't wrap her head around it. It had to be some sort of exaggeration. She drew a little more power up from the ground and felt it wrap itself into her muscles.
"Fine," she said. "The hard way."
The Guardian's laughter stopped. "So yer still on that, huh? Okay, if'n ya think it's worth the bits."
"Oh, it's always worth the bits," Melonie smirked, trying to project more confidence that what she was feeling. "And once you and your friends are all dead, I think I'm going to retire to a nice little private island somewhere off of-"
"My friends?"
Melonie faltered at the sudden cold tone in the Guardian's voice. Melonie lifted her head up and puffed out her chest.
"You didn't think you were the only one being targeted, right?" Melonie asked. "Even as we speak, the rest of my team are likely closing in on the other Guardians. Our client wanted the full set, so to speak."
"Y'know, stranger," the Guardian said, her eyes half-lidded and blank. "I don't think we ever introduced ourselves proper-like. If I'm gonna be assassinated, I wanna know who by."
Melonie's tail lashed, and the Guardian looked up past her, along the path to town.
"Well, if'n yer gonna be that way, I'll go first. Hello, I'm Applejack of the Apple Family, an' I'm from here, Ponyville," Applejack rolled her shoulders. "Funny thing about that, see, it was my great-gran'parents that done settled this town. Princess Celestia herself gave 'em the land they needed to do it. So Sweet Apple Acres was plotted out, an' there it's been. You know what that does fer a pony, huh? Gettin' land from a Princess? Gives 'em a title."
Melonie frowned. Applejack continued.
"'Course, my folks weren't too fussed about all that, so most ponies don't know. I don't like t' spread it around much, 'cause I ain't one fer bein' all hoity-toity like that, but my Granny, see, she's technically the Duchess of Everfree. That big ol' scary forest an' the surroundin' areas, like Ponyville, fer instance. Y'know what that means, stranger?"
Oh. Dirty Work had not done enough research, not in the slightest. Melonie was about to fail a hit for the first time in a long while.
"Eeyup, I can see that ya do," Applejack said. "I am still on my land."
Applejack drew.